If you have just been gifted a shiny new Amazon Echo for Christmas but you're still unsure as to what this interloper is doing in your living room, don't despair. It can actually do some pretty nifty things.

Amazon's range of Echo devices are packed full of hidden skills that will make your life a little more fun whilst also teaching you a thing or two along the way.

Don't be afraid to interact with 'Alexa' by asking her whatever comes to your mind. She may not always have the correct answer but even her misunderstandings will leave you and your family in fits of giggles.

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But ask her "what is the tallest building in the world" or "what are the latest football results", or even "what time is Coronation Street on tonight?" and Alexa will not disappoint.

The device is essentially a hands-free speaker you control with your voice. It plays music, reads audio books, answers general knowledge questions, reads the news, tells you sport fixtures and results and gives you the weather. Not too shabby eh?

But Amazon’s Alexa boasts thousands of other skills from finding your phone to ordering a pizza.

Amazon Echo was one of the most popular Christmas gifts of 2017

These are some of the fun things you can do with your Amazon Echo.

Remember, to converse with Alexa you need to first say her name - "Alexa, how many days until Christmas?" (363 days!) And to stop her from doing anything, whether playing music or telling you the history of Big Ben, just say "Alexa, stop".

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Listen to millions of songs

This is one of the key features of your new Echo and if you fancy busting out your freshest dance moves after a few Christmas sherries, Alexa will help get the party started. You can listen to a specific song, if you have one in mind, simply by asking “Alexa, play...” whatever that may be.

If you don’t know exactly what you feel like you can just say “Alexa, play some Christmas music” or “Alexa, play some heavy metal” and she will have the house rocking in no time. If you are an Amazon Prime subscriber, you will benefit from the vast Amazon music library. If you have Spotify, you can use that to play your music.

If you don't want to pay the extra for music streaming services, you can still listen to hundreds of free radio stations. Just say "Alexa, play Radio 6" or whichever radio station you wish and she will tune in immediately.

You can also ask “Alexa, wake me up at 7am to...” whatever song you desire and your alarm will never be the same again.

Set the atmosphere

Alexa can create a relaxing atmosphere by playing ambient sounds such as crackling log fire or bird song. Perfect for meditating or for helping you relax, you can ask "Alexa, play oceans sounds" or "Alexa, play thunderstorm" and she will set the atmosphere.

Play games and trivia

There are loads of games you can play with Alexa from bingo to memory games and rock, paper, scissors. Simply start by saying “Alexa, open bingo” or "Alexa, play would you rather" and the fun will begin.

You can listen to music, book a taxi, order a pizza and even learn a thing or two

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Tell a Joke

Who said robots don't have a sense of humour? Say, "Alexa, tell me a joke", and Alexa will deliver her best bad joke. She might not be Michael McIntyre but the cringe-worthy jokes will keep the kids entertained at least.

Alexa can sometimes have a mischievous sense of humour. Say "Alexa, play me a love song" and she will serenade you with her very own love song.

Get fit

If you’re feeling slightly full and feel like burning off the Christmas dinner calories then shout to Alexa and ask her to “start a seven-minute workout”.

She will then take you through a series of exercises and if you're unsure of what she's asking of you, just take a look at the handy little picture that appears in the app.

Find your phone

For those of you who constantly seem to be searching around for your phone you can say “Alexa, find my phone” and it will immediately begin to play your ringtone at full blast.

You’ll need to also be signed up to the free TrackR service for this one but Alexa will talk you through the process and it only takes two minutes.

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Have the news read to you

If you're a news junkie or simply want a brief news update, Alexa can keep you informed of what's going on.

You can choose news services from the BBC, Sky News, Guardian and most other news providers. Say, "Alexa, give me a BBC news update" and you will receive a real-world news briefing read by an actual BBC correspondent.

You can also ask for entire articles to be read and localised weather forecasts for your area can be requested. The weather can be delivered to you by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the weather like?”.

You can also ask Alexa what the time is anywhere in the world. Want to know whether your relatives in Australia will be awake? Ask Alexa, "What's the time in Queensland?".

Good luck booking a taxi

Call a taxi

If you link Alexa to your Uber account, you can then say “Alexa, call me an Uber”. Within minutes, an Uber will be at your door. The future has arrived!

Have a book read to you

Want to de-stress at the end of a long day? Just pop the kettle on, ease into your favourite comfy chair and say "Alexa, read me a book". If you are an Audible subscriber, Alexa will list the audio books in your library and you can choose which one you'd like to listen to.

The next time you ask "Alexa, read me a book", she will resume the story where she left off last time.

You can even ask “Alexa, stop reading the book in 30 minutes” and it will put a sleep timer on. Perfect if you want to drift off to the land of nod without losing your place in the book.

Find out virtually any fact from Wikipedia

If you were in awe of HAL 9000's infinite knowledge in 2001: A Space Odyssey , you'll enjoy Alexa's Wikipedia brain.

If you want to educate yourself on virtually any topic, you can ask Alexa to read you Wikipedia articles by simply asking “Alexa, Wikipedia...” whatever you want to find out about. For example, "Alexa, Wikipedia Stonehenge" and Alexa will give you a brief introduction to the history of Stonehenge.

After she has finished, she will ask whether you want to know more. By saying "Tell me more about Stonehenge", Alexa will give you a detailed lecture on Stonehenge using information from Wikipedia.

You can become a pub quiz sensation by asking Alexa whatever pops into your head. "Alexa, when did the Beatles break up?", "Alexa, how long is the River Severn?", "Alexa, what is an Amazon Echo device?"

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Order a pizza

If you could have a pound for the number of times you’ve come home after a long day at work or uni and groaned at the thought of cooking, you’d be a millionaire, right?

With your new Amazon Echo, you don't need to pick up the phone or even go online. With the new Domino’s Pizza skill for Amazon Alexa, there’s no need to even move.

By enabling the Domino's skill in your Alexa app, you can order a pizza without even lifting a muscle. Simply, say "Alexa, ask Domino's to feed me".

Alexa will take your order and all you have to do is answer the door and turn on Netflix.

The pinnacle of civilisation has been reached.

Ask for train times

Okay, so you might not want to think about this one just yet but if you input your home and work address when you first set up the device and then ask “Alexa, what’s my commute?” she’ll tell you how long it’ll take and what the traffic is like.

You can also say, "Alexa, when's the next train from Cheltenham to Birmingham New Street" and she will use the National Rail timetables to find out.

Find new features and skills every week

Alexa is growing her knowledge base all the time and new skills are being added on a daily basis. You can keep up-to-date with new add-ons by checking the Alexa app which you will need to download on your phone or tablet.

Or you can simply say "Alexa, tell me a new skill" and she will tell you about some of the latest skills that she has learned.